Merchant/customer pos interaction system

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for providing merchant/customer interaction include determining that a tablet computer is in a merchant orientation, retrieving merchant product information according to a received instruction and merchant orientation information, and displaying a merchant screen on the tablet computer that includes the merchant product information according to the merchant orientation information. A change in the orientation of the tablet computer enclosure/stand is then detected from the merchant orientation to a customer orientation. In response, the merchant screen is transitioned on the tablet computer display to a customer screen as the tablet computer enclosure/stand changes orientations by moving the merchant screen and the customer screen linearly while in a stacked orientation. The customer screen includes the merchant product information displayed according to customer orientation information such that the merchant product information is displayed differently on the customer screen relative to the merchant screen.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to and incorporates by referenceU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/921,352, attorney docketnumber 70481.1123 (P2289PRV), filed on Dec. 27, 2013.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure generally relates to online and/or mobilepayments and more particularly to a merchant/customer interaction systemthat may be used for online and/or mobile payments in a physical storesetting.

2. Related Art

More and more consumers are purchasing items and services overelectronic networks such as, for example, the Internet. Consumersroutinely purchase products and services from merchants and individualsalike. The transactions may take place directly between a conventionalor on-line merchant or retailer and the consumer, and payment istypically made by entering credit card or other financial information.Transactions may also take place with the aid of an on-line or mobilepayment service provider such as, for example, PayPal, Inc. of San Jose,Calif. Such payment service providers can make transactions easier andsafer for the parties involved. Purchasing with the assistance of apayment service provider from the convenience of virtually anywhereusing a mobile device is one main reason why on-line and mobilepurchases are growing very quickly.

Merchant/customer interactions in physical merchant locations have beenconventionally limited to interactive kiosks and Point-Of-Sale (POS)devices. Kiosks are provided for customer use, and may include acomputer and display that are provided in the physical merchant locationand that allow customers to search for items for sale by the merchant.POS devices are provided for merchant use, and may include a register,product identification equipment (e.g., scanners), and a display so thatusers can see the cost of their items when they are identified. Thesesystems limit the ability of the merchant and customers to interact, asthey are typically provided for either the customer or the merchant andthe only interaction occurs when the customer cannot find somethingusing the kiosk, or when the customer views an item price and pays themerchant for their item(s).

Thus, there is a need for an improved merchant/customer interactionsystem.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of a tabletcomputer.

FIG. 2 a is a side view illustrating an embodiment of a tablet computerenclosure/stand.

FIG. 2 b is a front view illustrating an embodiment of the tabletcomputer of FIG. 1 being coupled to the tablet computer enclosure/standof FIG. 2 a.

FIG. 2 c is a front view illustrating an embodiment of the tabletcomputer of FIG. 1 being coupled to the tablet computer enclosure/standof FIG. 2 a.

FIG. 2 d is a front view illustrating an embodiment of the tabletcomputer of FIG. 1 coupled to the tablet computer enclosure/stand ofFIG. 2 a.

FIG. 2 e is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of the tabletcomputer of FIG. 1 being coupled to the tablet computer enclosure/standof FIG. 2 a.

FIG. 2 f is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of the tabletcomputer enclosure/stand of FIG. 2 a with an integrated card reader.

FIG. 2 g is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of the tabletcomputer of FIG. 1 coupled to the tablet computer enclosure/stand ofFIG. 2 a and a card reader being coupled to the tablet computer and/ortablet computer enclosure/stand.

FIG. 3 a is a front perspective view illustrating an embodiment of thetablet computer enclosure or stand of FIG. 2 in a merchant orientation.

FIG. 3 b is a rear perspective view illustrating an embodiment of thetablet computer enclosure/stand of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 a is a front perspective view illustrating an embodiment of thetablet computer enclosure/stand of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 b is a rear perspective view illustrating an embodiment of thetablet computer enclosure/stand of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view illustrating an embodiment of thetablet computer enclosure/stand of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the tablet computerenclosure/stand of FIG. 3 a housing the tablet computer of FIG. 1 thatis displaying a merchant facing software interface.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the tablet computerenclosure/stand of FIG. 4 a housing the tablet computer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 a is a perspective view illustrating the tablet computerenclosure/stand of FIG. 5 housing the tablet computer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 b is a side view illustrating the tablet computer enclosure/standof FIG. 8 a in a vertical/portrait orientation.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method forproviding merchant/customer interaction.

FIG. 10 a is a side view illustrating an embodiment of the tabletcomputer enclosure/stand of FIG. 2 positioned on a support surface in amerchant orientation.

FIG. 10 b is a screen shot illustrating an embodiment of a merchant homescreen after a user has logged into the system.

FIG. 10 c is a side view illustrating an embodiment of the tabletcomputer enclosure/stand of FIG. 3 b performing a scanning function.

FIG. 10 d is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of the tabletcomputer enclosure/stand of FIG. 2 performing a scanning function andreading a card.

FIG. 10 e is a screen shot illustrating an embodiment of a merchantscreen displaying merchant product information according to merchantorientation information.

FIG. 10 f is a side view illustrating an embodiment of the tabletcomputer enclosure/stand of FIG. 2 transitioning between a merchantorientation and a customer orientation on a support surface.

FIG. 10 g is a screen shot illustrating an embodiment of the transitionof a merchant screen to a customer screen.

FIG. 10 h is a side view illustrating an embodiment of the tabletcomputer enclosure/stand of FIG. 2 positioned on a support surface in acustomer orientation.

FIG. 10 i is a screen shot illustrating an embodiment of a customerscreen.

FIG. 10 j is a screen shot illustrating an embodiment of a customerscreen.

FIG. 10 k is perspective view with a screen shot illustrating anembodiment of the tablet computer enclosure/stand and tablet computer ofFIG. 6 displaying a customer screen.

FIG. 11 a is a screen shot illustrating an embodiment of a merchantscreen.

FIG. 11 b is a screen shot illustrating an embodiment of a merchantscreen.

FIG. 11 c is a screen shot illustrating an embodiment of the transitionof a merchant screen to a customer screen.

FIG. 11 d is a screen shot illustrating an embodiment of a customerscreen.

FIG. 11 e is a screen shot illustrating an embodiment of a customerscreen.

FIG. 11 f is a screen shot illustrating an embodiment of a customerscreen.

FIG. 11 g is a screen shot illustrating an embodiment of a customerscreen.

FIG. 11 h is a screen shot illustrating an embodiment of the transitionof a customer screen to a merchant screen.

FIG. 11 i is a screen shot illustrating an embodiment of a merchantscreen.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a networkedsystem;

FIG. 13 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a computersystem; and

FIG. 14 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a merchantdevice.

FIG. 15 a is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a rocker POStablet in a merchant orientation.

FIG. 15 b is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a rocker POStablet in a halfway rotated orientation.

FIG. 15 c is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a rocker POStablet in a customer orientation.

Embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages are bestunderstood by referring to the detailed description that follows. Itshould be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identifylike elements illustrated in one or more of the figures, whereinshowings therein are for purposes of illustrating embodiments of thepresent disclosure and not for purposes of limiting the same.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure describes systems and methods for providingmerchant/customer interactions, as well as Point Of Sale (POS)functionalities. In the embodiments discussed below, those systems andmethods include a POS device with a tablet computer and a tabletcomputer enclosure/stand that provide what is referred to herein as a“rocker POS tablet”. The tablet computer enclosure/stand of the rocketPOS tablet has a triangularly shaped cross section with three primaryuse surfaces: a tablet computer display surface and two base surfacesthat share a common edge and operate to support the rocker POS tablet indifferent orientations. Software and hardware devices in the rocket POStablet provide for the recognition of the different orientations suchthat when the rocker POS tablet is in a merchant orientation, merchantproduct information is displayed differently than when the rocker POStablet is in a customer orientation. In operation, the rocker POS tabletmay be positioned on a support surface and transitioned between itsdifferent orientations, and during transition, a merchant screen istransitioned to a customer screen by “moving” (or more accurately,providing the illusion of movement of) the stacked merchant screen andcustomer screen linearly relative to the tablet computer display. Thedisplay of merchant product differently in the merchant orientation andthe customer orientation allows the merchant to view merchant-specificproduct information (e.g., inventory data, product margins, costs,customer data, etc.), then transition the POS rocket tablet to thecustomer orientation so that the customer may view customer-specificinformation (e.g., product images).

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, customers may interactwith merchants with the help of a payment service provider. For example,as discussed below, the rocker POS tablet may be a merchant deviceoperated by a merchant. While conventional payment techniques such ascredit cards are discussed below as being enabled by the rocker POStablet, in other embodiments, the customer may pay using a customerdevice and a payment service provider account. A payment serviceprovider may use a payment service provider device to provide paymentservice provider accounts to merchants and customers by, for example,linking financial accounts of the merchant and customer that areprovided by account providers using account provider devices to thosepayment service provider accounts. Transactions may then be conductedbetween the merchants and customers by, for example, the customer usingtheir customer device and merchant using their merchant device toprovide details of a purchase to the payment service provider device,and the payment service provider using the payment service providerdevice to transfer funds from the financial account of the customer tothe financial account of the merchant to pay for a product. However,this is only one example of how the rocker POS tablet may accept apayment, and while other examples are presented below, any paymenttechnique is envisioned as falling within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an embodiment of a computing device 100 isillustrated. One of skill in the art will recognize that the computingdevice 100 of FIG. 1 is a tablet computer 100 and, as described below, atablet computing chassis may be provided that houses the tablet computer100 to provide a POS rocker tablet. However, one of skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure will recognize that the tabletcomputer and tablet computer enclosure/stand described below may beintegrated as a POS rocker tablet without departing from its scope. Thetablet computer 100 includes a tablet computer component housing 102that houses computing device components such as, for example, aprocessing system, a memory system, a storage system, a networkcommunications system, and/or a variety of other computing devicecomponents known in the art. A tablet computer display 104 is coupled tothe tablet computer component housing 102, and an input button 106 islocated on the tablet computer component housing 102 between the tabletcomputer display 104 and an edge of the tablet computer componenthousing 102. A data connector 108 is located adjacent on that edge ofthe tablet computer component housing 102. While a single data connector108 is illustrated and described, other data connectors (e.g., aheadphone input, a USB port, etc.) may be provided on the tabletcomputer 100 while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 2 a, an embodiment of a tablet computerenclosure/stand 200 is illustrated. The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2a is a side view of a basic embodiment of the tablet computerenclosure/stand 200, and as discussed below, different features may beprovided on the table computer chassis 200 to provide differentfunctionality. The tablet computer enclosure/stand 200 includes a base202 having a substantially triangular cross section, as illustrated. Thebase 202 includes a first base surface 204 having a first edge 204 a anda second edge 204 b that is located opposite the first base surface 204from the first edge 204 a. The base 202 also includes a second basesurface 206 that shares the second edge 204 b (also referred to as a“common” edge between the first base surface 204 and the second basesurface 206 below) and includes a third edge 206 a that is locatedopposite the second base surface 206 from the second edge 204 b. Whilethe first base surface 204 and the second base surface 206 areillustrated and discussed as sharing the second edge 204 b, in otherembodiments, one or more intermediate edges and surfaces may existbetween the first base surface 204 and the second base surface 206. Assuch, in some embodiments, the second base surface 206 may “extend” fromthe first base surface 204 via other surfaces and edges such that aplane that coincides with the first base surface 204 will eventuallyintersect a plane that coincides with the second base surface 206.

A computer housing 208 extends between the first edge 204 a and thethird edge 206 a, and as discussed above can either include anintegrated computing device, or provide a tablet computer housing 208for the tablet computer 100 as illustrated and described below. Asdiscussed below, at least a portion of a scanning system 210 may belocated on the second base surface 206. The tablet computerenclosure/stand 200 discussed below may be modified to accommodate awide variety of tablet computers, form factors, and operating systemswhile remaining within the scope of the present disclosure. In anembodiment, the scanning device 210 may be an opening in the tabletcomputer enclosure/chassis 200 that allows a camera on a tablet computerto capture images and/or scan, discussed in further detail below.

In an embodiment, the tablet computer enclosure/chassis 200 may bethought of as having a top part enclosure that houses a tablet computerand a bottom foot stand in a pyramid shape that allows a rocking motionto the tablet computer enclosure/chassis 200. The bottom foot stand thatsupplies the viewing angle/dual position may be provided as more thanone part of the tablet computer enclosure/chassis 200.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 a, and with reference to thetriangular cross section of the base 202, the base 202 of the tabletcomputer enclosure/stand 200 is provided with a substantially isoscelestriangular cross section with the tablet computer housing 208 providedon the hypotenuse side and the first base surface 204 and second basesurface 206 having substantially equal lengths. However, differenttriangular cross sections may be provided while remaining within thescope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, while the engagement ofthe first base surface 204 with a support surface is referred to belowas a “merchant orientation”, and the engagement of the second basesurface 206 with a support surface is referred to below as a “customerorientation”, different orientations of the tablet computerenclosure/stand 200 other than those discussed below may be definedwhile remaining within the scope of the present closure.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 b, 2 c, 2 d, and 2 e, an embodiment of thecoupling of the tablet computer 100 of FIG. 1 with the tablet computerenclosure/chassis 200 is illustrated. As can be seen in FIG. 2 b, thetablet computer 100 may be positioned adjacent a side of the tabletcomputer enclosure/stand 200 that includes an opening into the tabletcomputer housing 208 and moved in a direction 212. FIG. 2 c illustrateshow the tablet computer 100 may move in the direction 212 into thetablet computer housing 208, and FIG. 2 d illustrates how continuedmovement in the direction 212 will cause the tablet computer 100 tobecome completely housed in the tablet computer housing 208. In theillustrated embodiment, the table tablet computer enclosure/chassis 200defines a screen opening 214 through which the tablet computer display104 may be viewed and accessed when the tablet computer 100 ispositioned in the tablet computer housing 208, and an integrated cardreader 216 that is discussed in further detail below. FIG. 2 eillustrates how, once the tablet computer 100 has been positioned in thetablet computer housing 208 on the tablet computer enclosure/chassis200, some embodiments of the present disclosure may include a tablethousing end cap 218 that may also be moved in the direction 212 andcoupled to the tablet computer enclosure/chassis 200 (e.g., via couplingfeatures on the tablet computer enclosure/chassis and the tablet housingend cap 218) in order to, for example, secure the tablet computer 100 inthe tablet computer enclosure/chassis 200, couple the tablet computer100 to features (e.g., the integrated card reader 216) on the tabletcomputer enclosure/chassis 200, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 2 f, an embodiment of the tablet computerenclosure/chassis 200 is illustrated that includes the tablet computerhousing 208 provided by a tablet computer housing bezel 208 a and atablet computer housing chassis portion 208 b, with the integrated cardreader 216 provided by a card reader channel 216 a and card readercomponents 216 b. As can be seen in FIG. 2 f, the tablet computerhousing bezel 208 a defines the screen opening 214 and includes couplingfeatures that are configured to engage the tablet computer housingchassis portion 208 b when the tablet computer housing bezel 208 a ismoved in a direction 220, which aligned the card reader channel 216 withthe card reader components 216 b and allows a user to move a cardthrough the card reader channel 216 a to be read by the card readercomponents 216 b, as discussed below. FIG. 2 f also illustrates how theportion of the scanning system 210 may be provided by a scanning window210 a defined by the second base surface 206 that may allow a scanningdevice on the tablet computer 100 to operate through the scanning window210 a. Alternatively, FIG. 2 g illustrates how a card reader 222 may becoupled to the tablet computer enclosure chassis 200 and/or the tabletcomputer 100 (e.g., via an input 224 provided on the tablet computerenclosure chassis 200 and/or the tablet computer 100) to provide for thecard reading functionality discussed below.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 a and 3 b, an embodiment of a tablet computerenclosure/stand 300 is illustrated that may be the tablet computerenclosure/stand 200 discussed above with reference to FIG. 2. The tabletcomputer enclosure/stand 300 includes a base 302 having a triangularcross section, as illustrated. The base 302 includes a first basesurface 304 having a first edge 304 a and a second edge 304 b that islocated opposite the first base surface 304 from the first edge 304 a.The base 302 also includes a second base surface 306 that shares thesecond edge 304 b (the “common” edge between the first base surface 304and the second base surface 306) and includes a third edge 306 a that islocated opposite the second base surface 306 from the second edge 304 b.A computer housing 308 extends between the first edge 304 a and thethird edge 306 a, and as discussed above can either include anintegrated computing device, or provide a tablet computer housing 308for the tablet computer 100 as illustrated and described below. Thetablet computer housing 308 includes an input button 308 a, which may bepart of an integrated computing device, the input button 106 on thetablet computer 100 when that tablet computer 100 is housed in thetablet computer housing 308, or an input button 308 a that is configuredto actuate the input button 106 on the tablet computer 100 when thattablet computer 100 is housed in the tablet computer housing 308. Thetablet computer housing 308 also includes a card reading slot 308 b thatprovides access to a card reading device (not illustrated) in the tabletcomputer enclosure/stand 300. The tablet computer enclosure/stand 300also includes a scanning device 310 (or aperture for a camera on thetablet computer) that is located on the second base surface 306. Achannel 312 is defined by the tablet computer enclosure/stand 300between the first base surface 304, the second base surface 306, and thetablet computer enclosure/stand 308. In the illustrated embodimentsdiscussed below, the channel 312 extends through the tablet computerenclosure/stand 300 and may provide storage for connector cables thatare connected to the tablet computer and may provide connectivity topower and/or accessory devices such that a printer, a bar code scanner,a register, a pin entry device, etc. However, a variety of other usesfor the channel 312 are envisioned as falling within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 a and 4 b, an embodiment of a tablet computerenclosure/stand 400 is illustrated that may be the tablet computerenclosure/stand 200 discussed above with reference to FIG. 2. The tabletcomputer enclosure/stand 400 includes a base 402 having a triangularcross section, as illustrated. The base 402 includes a first basesurface 404 having a first edge 404 a and a second edge 404 b that islocated opposite the first base surface 404 from the first edge 404 a.The base 402 also includes a second base surface 406 that shares thesecond edge 404 b (the “common” edge between the first base surface 404and the second base surface 406) and includes a third edge 406 a that islocated opposite the second base surface 406 from the second edge 404 b.A computer housing 408 extends between the first edge 404 a and thethird edge 406 a, and as discussed above can either include anintegrated computing device, or provide a tablet computer housing 408for the tablet computer 100 as illustrated and described below. Thetablet computer housing 408 also includes a card reading slot 408 a thatprovides access to a card reading device (not illustrated) in the tabletcomputer enclosure/stand 400. The tablet computer enclosure/stand 400also includes a scanning device 410 that is located on the second basesurface 406. In the illustrated embodiment, the base 402 of the tabletcomputer enclosure/stand 400 is solid, but may include, for example,storage compartments, data connectors, and/or other features whileremaining within the scope of the present disclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 5, an embodiment of a tablet computerenclosure/stand 500 is illustrated that may be the tablet computerenclosure/stand 200 discussed above with reference to FIG. 2 in a “facedown” orientation. The tablet computer enclosure/stand 500 includes abase 502 having a triangular cross section, as illustrated. The base 502includes a first base surface 504 having a first edge 504 a and a secondedge 504 b that is located opposite the first base surface 504 from thefirst edge 504 a. The base 502 also includes a second base surface 506that shares the second edge 504 b (the “common” edge between the firstbase surface 504 and the second base surface 506) and includes a thirdedge 506 a that is located opposite the second base surface 506 from thesecond edge 504 b. A computer housing 508 extends between the first edge504 a and the third edge 506 a, and as discussed above can eitherinclude an integrated computing device, or provide a tablet computerhousing 508 for the tablet computer 100 as illustrated and describedbelow. The tablet computer enclosure/stand 500 also includes a scanningdevice 510 (or aperture for a camera on a tablet computer) that islocated adjacent the second base surface 506. A channel 512 is definedby the tablet computer enclosure/stand 500 between the first basesurface 504, the second base surface 506, and the tablet computerenclosure/stand 508. In the illustrated embodiments discussed below, thechannel 512 extends through the tablet computer enclosure/stand 500 andmay provide storage for connector cables 514 and 516 having connectors514 a and 516 a, respectively, or access to connections for connectorcables that may connects to power or accessory devices, discussed above.However, a variety of other uses for the channel 512 are envisioned asfalling within the scope of the present disclosure. The opposing edgesof the first base surface 504, the second base surface 506, and thetablet computer housing 508 are configured to provide vertical/portraitorientation surfaces 518 a and 518 b, discussed in further detail below.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 3 a, and 6, an embodiment of a rocker POStablet 600 is illustrated. In the illustrated embodiment, the rocker POStablet 600 is provided by positioning the tablet computer 100, describedabove with reference to FIG. 1, in the tablet computer housing 308 onthe tablet computer enclosure/stand 300. In an embodiment, the tabletcomputer housing 308 may include an entrance, tablet computer retainingdevices, and/or a variety of other features for coupling the tabletcomputer 100 to the tablet computer housing 308. In one example, thepositioning of the tablet computer 100 in the tablet computer housing308 causes the engagement of the data connector 108 on the tabletcomputer 100 with a data connector (not illustrated) in the tabletcomputer housing 308 to communicatively couple the tablet computer 100(e.g., a processing system in the tablet computer 100) to devices on thetablet computer enclosure/stand 300 (e.g., the scanning device 310, thecard reading device in the card reading slot 308 b, connectors cablesstored in the channel 312, etc.) In other embodiments, the tabletcomputer 100 may communicate wirelessly with devices on the tabletcomputer enclosure/stand 300. In the illustrated embodiment, the tabletcomputer 100 is illustrated as providing a screen (e.g., a merchantscreen, a customer screen, etc.) on the tablet computer display 104. Inan embodiment, the rocker POS tablet 600 may include a base accessorythat allows the tablet computer enclosure/stand 300 to be secured. Forexample, the base accessory may secure to a table or other relativelyimmobile object, and the tablet computer enclosure/stand 300 may thensecure (e.g., “snap in”) to that base accessory to prevent theft of therocker POS tablet.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 4 a, and 7, an embodiment of a rocker POStablet 700 is illustrated. In the illustrated embodiment, the rocker POStablet 700 is provided by positioning the tablet computer 100, describedabove with reference to FIG. 1, in the tablet computer housing 408 onthe tablet computer enclosure/stand 400. In an embodiment, the tabletcomputer housing 408 may include an entrance, tablet computer retainingdevices, and/or a variety of other features for coupling the tabletcomputer 100 to the tablet computer housing 408. In one example, thepositioning of the tablet computer 100 in the tablet computer housing408 causes the engagement of the data connector 108 on the tabletcomputer 100 with a data connector (not illustrated) in the tabletcomputer housing 408 to communicatively couple the tablet computer 100(e.g., a processing system in the tablet computer 100) to devices on thetablet computer enclosure/stand 400 (e.g., the scanning device 410, thecard reading device in the card reading slot 408 a, etc.) In otherembodiments, the tablet computer 100 may communicate wirelessly withdevices on the tablet computer enclosure/stand 400. In the illustratedembodiment, the tablet computer 100 is illustrated as providing a screen(e.g., a merchant screen a customer screen, etc.) on the tablet computerdisplay 104.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 5, 8 a, and 8 b, an embodiment of a rocker POStablet 800 is illustrated in a vertical/portrait orientation. In theillustrated embodiment, the rocker POS tablet 800 is provided bypositioning the tablet computer 100, described above with reference toFIG. 1, in the tablet computer housing 508 on the tablet computerenclosure/stand 500. In an embodiment, the tablet computer housing 508may include an entrance, tablet computer retaining devices, and/or avariety of other features for coupling the tablet computer 100 to thetablet computer housing 508. In one example, the positioning of thetablet computer 100 in the tablet computer housing 508 causes theengagement of the data connector 108 on the tablet computer 100 with adata connector (not illustrated) in the tablet computer housing 508 tocommunicatively couple the tablet computer 100 (e.g., a processingsystem in the tablet computer 100) to devices on the tablet computerenclosure/stand 400 (e.g., the scanning device 410, the card readingdevice in the card reading slot 408 a, the connector cables 514 and 516,etc.) In other embodiments, the tablet computer 100 may communicatewirelessly with devices on the tablet computer enclosure/stand 500. Inthe illustrated embodiment, the tablet computer 100 is illustrated asproviding a screen (e.g., a merchant screen a customer screen, etc.) onthe tablet computer display 104. FIGS. 8 a and 8 b illustrate how thevertical/portrait orientation surfaces 518 a and 518 b are configured tosupport the rocker POS tablet 800 in a vertical orientation. In theembodiments illustrated and discussed below, the merchant orientationand the customer orientation are provided in a horizontal/landscapeorientation of the tablet computer 100, and the vertical/portraitorientation may be defined differently from the first/merchantorientation and the second/customer orientation discussed below suchthat different information is displayed on the tablet computer display104 when the rocker POS tablet 800 is in the vertical/portraitorientation (e.g., images may be provided, welcome screens may beprovided, etc.) For example, the vertical/portrait orientation of thetablet computer enclosure/stand 500 may be defined as a customer modethat only provides customer screens in interacting with the tabletcomputer. In addition, multiple different modes may be enabled in thetwo available vertical/portrait orientations, thus allowing 4 differentmodes for different orientations of the rocker POS tablet 800.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a method for 900 providing merchant/customerinteractions is illustrated. The method 900 described and illustratedbelow may be performed with any of the rocker POS tablets 600, 700, or800, and/or a rocker POS tablet that includes any combinations of thefeatures of the rocker POS tablets 600, 700, or 800. In the discussionsbelow, FIGS. 10 a-k illustrate a merchant/customer payment interactionenabled by the method 900, while FIGS. 11 a-k illustrate amerchant/customer service interaction enabled by the method 900.However, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosurewill recognize that a wide variety of other merchant/customerinteractions will fall within its scope.

Referring first to FIGS. 10 a-k, an embodiment of the method 900 beginsat block 902 where a rocker POS tablet is determined to be in a firstorientation. FIGS. 10 a-e illustrate the tablet computer enclosure/stand200/POS rocker tablet 300 in a first orientation A that is referred tobelow as a merchant orientation A. In the merchant orientation A, thetablet computer enclosure/stand 200/POS rocker tablet 300 is positionedon a support surface 902 a such that the first base surface 204/304engages the support surface 902 a, as illustrated in FIG. 10 a. Thetablet computer 100 and/or the tablet computer enclosure/stand 200 or300 may include an orientation determination device such as, forexample, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a camera, combinations thereof,and/or a variety of other devices known in the art that provide datathat may be processed to determine an orientation or a change inorientation of the tablet computer 100. In an embodiment of block 902,the processing system in the tablet computer 100 may retrieveorientation information from the orientation determination device(s),and reference a database in a non-transitory, computer-readable mediumthat stores merchant orientation information and customer orientationinformation.

In an embodiment, a user of the rocker POS tablet 600 may define themerchant orientation A with merchant orientation information thatprovides the orientation data associated with the rocker POS tablet 600when in the first base surface 204 is laid flat on the support surface902 a. For example, when the tablet computer 100 in the tablet computerhousing 208 is oriented at the angle to the support surface 902 aillustrated in FIG. 10 c, that tablet computer 100 is associated withparticular orientation data, and that orientation data may be defined asthe merchant orientation A and stored in the database. Thus, at block902, the orientation determination device(s) in the tablet computer 100may provide orientation data that describes the angle that the tabletcomputer 100 is oriented at relative to the support surface 902 a, andthe processor in the tablet computer 100 may determine that thatorientation data is associated with the merchant orientation A in thedatabase.

In an embodiment, the merchant orientation information associated withthe merchant orientation A in the database provides information on how avariety of information should be displayed on the tablet computerdisplay 104. For example, the merchant orientation information maydefine which types of information may be displayed, how that informationmay be displayed, which types of information are accessible. Themerchant orientation information is used in the systems and methodsdescribed herein to provide merchant users the ability to access andview information that is meant for the merchant users, but not forcustomer users. As such, the merchant orientation information may ensurethat data retrieved by merchant users is displayed in a manner thatprovides the merchant users with the ability to quickly and easily sortthrough product data, process a purchase, and/or provide a number ofother merchant actions known in the art.

The method 900 then proceeds to block 904 where merchant productinformation is retrieved. In an embodiment, while in the merchantorientation A, instructions may be received through the tablet computer100. For example, the tablet computer display 104 may be a touch screendisplay that allows a user to provide inputs that may be interpreted asinstructions to retrieve merchant product information, perform paymentfunctions, and/or perform a variety of other functions known in the art.Referring now to FIG. 10 b, the rocker POS tablet 600 is illustrateddisplaying a merchant home screen 904 a while in the merchantorientation A. In an embodiment, when the tablet computerenclosure/stand 200/rocker POS tablet 600 is positioned in the merchantorientation A, the tablet computer 100 may operate to display themerchant home screen 904 a according to the merchant orientationinformation. To contrast, when the rocker POST tablet 600 is in thecustomer orientation discussed below, a customer home screen may bedisplayed that is different from the merchant home screen 904 a andincludes, for example, a customer kiosk screen that allows a customer tobrowse through products offered at the physical merchant location.

In the illustrated embodiment, the merchant home screen 904 a includes aplurality of rocker POS tablet functionality buttons, including a usersign in button 904 b, a view inventory button 904 c, a check-outcustomer button 904 c, and a find customer button 904 d. For example, inthe illustrated embodiment, a user of the rocker POS tablet 600 may belogged in, and the user sign in button 904 b may be selected to log thatuser out and log in a different user. In another example, the viewinventory button 904 c may be selected to view merchant productinformation associated with an inventory at the physical merchantlocation, discussed in further detail below. In another example, thecheck-out customer button 904 d may be selected to check a customer outwhen that customer is purchasing products and/or services (referred tohenceforth as products), discussed in further detail below. In anotherexample, the find customers in store button 904 e may be selected tolocate customers within the physical merchant location (e.g., customersthat have “signed in” to a physical merchant location system thatprovides for the tracking of those customers). While a few examples havebeen provided, one of skill in the art will recognize that a variety offunctionality may be provided on the merchant home screen 904 a whileremaining within the scope of the present disclosure.

Referring now to FIGS. 10 b and 10 c, the merchant user of the rockerPOS tablet 600 has selected the check-out customer button 904 d on themerchant home screen 904 a when the tablet computer enclosure/stand200/rocker POS tablet 600 was in the merchant orientation A. Inresponse, the scanning device 210 has been activated, illustrated inFIG. 10 c and 10 d, to allow products to be scanned into the tabletcomputer 100 (e.g., by positioning products such that an identificationcode is located in a scanning field 904 f). In this manner, productsthat the customer wishes to purchase may be scanned into the tabletcomputer 100 using the scanning device 310. In addition, one or moremerchant screens may be provided on the rocker POS tablet 600 that allowthe user to enter products into the tablet computer 100 (e.g., byselecting products displayed on the merchant screen). When all productsare scanned or entered in, a credit card 904 g of the customer may berun through the credit card slot 308 b such that that credit card 904 gis read by the credit card reader in the tablet computer enclosure/stand302, as illustrated in FIG. 10 d.

The method 900 then proceeds to block 906 where merchant screen(s) aredisplayed. In an embodiment, the instruction(s) received at block 904may be used to retrieve merchant product information, customerinformation, and/or other information known in the art, and thatretrieved information may be provided on a merchant screen according tothe merchant orientation information. Referring now to FIG. 10 e, therocker POS tablet 600 is illustrated displaying a merchant screen 906 aaccording to the merchant orientation information associated with themerchant orientation A in the database. The merchant screen 906 aincludes retrieved merchant product information such as a product image906 b, product purchase details 906 c (e.g., product descriptions andprice in the illustrated embodiment), and amount due information 906 d.The merchant screen 906 also includes retrieved customer informationsuch as a credit card number 906 e, a customer name 906 f (e.g.,retrieved from a database using the credit card number 906 e), and links906 g to information about the customers previous visits to the physicalmerchant location, previous purchases from the physical merchantlocation, and rewards from purchasing at the physical merchant location.Thus, while in the merchant orientation A, the merchant screen(s)provided include may include information only intended for viewing bythe merchant user, such as credit card information, customer informationcollected by the merchant, and/or a variety of other merchant-intendedinformation known in the art.

The method 900 then proceeds to block 908 where a change in theorientation of the rocker POS tablet is detected. Referring to FIGS. 10f and 10 h, when the user has completed merchant operations with therocker POS tablet 600 in the merchant orientation A (e.g., scanningproducts, entering products, reading cards, etc.), the merchant user mayrotate the rocker POS tablet to reorient the tablet computerenclosure/stand 200/rocker POS tablet 600 into a customer orientation C.FIG. 10 f illustrates an embodiment of the change in orientation of thetablet computer enclosure/stand 200/rocker POS tablet 600 from themerchant orientation A to an intermediate orientation B by rotating thetablet computer enclosure/stand 200/rocker POS tablet 600 in thedirection indicated in FIG. 10 f about the engagement of thecommon/second edge 204 b/304 b and the support surface 902 a. FIG. 10 hillustrates an embodiment of the change in orientation of the tabletcomputer enclosure/stand 200/rocker POS tablet 600 from the intermediateorientation B to the customer orientation C by continuing to rotate thetablet computer enclosure/stand 200/rocker POS tablet 600 about theengagement of the common/second edge 204 b/304 b and the support surface902 a until the second base surface 206 engages the support surface 902a.

The method 900 then proceeds to block 910 where the merchant screen istransitioned to a customer screen. While discussed as separate methodblocks, one of skill in the art will recognize that blocks 908 and 910may occur substantially simultaneously. As discussed above, a user ofthe rocker POS tablet 600 may define the merchant orientation A withmerchant orientation information that includes the orientation dataassociated with the rocker POS tablet 600 when in the first base surface204 is laid flat on the support surface 902 a. Similarly, the user ofthe rocker POS tablet 600 may define the customer orientation C withcustomer orientation information that includes the orientation dataassociated with the rocker POS tablet 600 when in the second basesurface 206 is laid flat on the support surface 902 a. For example, whenoriented at an angle to the support surface 902 a, the tablet computer100 in the tablet computer housing 208 is associated with orientationdata, and that orientation data may be defined as the customerorientation C and stored in the database. Thus, at block 910, theorientation determination device(s) in the tablet computer 100 mayprovide orientation data that describes the angle that the tabletcomputer 100 is oriented at relative to the support surface 902 a, andthe processor in the tablet computer 100 may determine that thatorientation data is associated with a transition of the tablet computer100 from the merchant orientation A to the customer orientation C.

In response to detecting the change in orientation of the tabletcomputer enclosure/stand 200/rocker POS tablet 600, the tablet computer100 may operate to transition the merchant screen 906 a to a customerscreen 910 a. FIG. 10 g illustrates the rocker POS tablet 600 in theintermediate orientation B and transitioning from the merchant screen906 a to the customer screen 910 a. In the illustrated embodiment, themerchant screen 906 a and the customer screen 910 a are positioned in astacked orientation with (from the merchant user's point of view) thecustomer screen 910 a stacked, upside down, on top of the merchantscreen 906 a, and during the transition of the tablet computerenclosure/stand 200/rocker POS tablet 600 from the merchant orientationA to the intermediate orientation B, the stacked merchant screen 906a/customer screen 910 a are rendered by the tablet computer 100 suchthat they appear to move linearly in a direction D relative to thetablet computer display 104.

FIG. 10 i illustrates the rocker POS tablet 600 in the customerorientation C and transitioned from the merchant screen 906 a to thecustomer screen 910 a. In the illustrated embodiment, the rocker POStablet 600 is illustrated from the customer point of view, with themerchant screen 906 a and the customer screen 910 a positioned in astacked orientation with (from the customer user's point of view) themerchant screen 906 a stacked, upside down, on top of the customerscreen 910 a, and during the transition of the tablet computerenclosure/stand 200/rocker POS tablet 600 from the intermediateorientation B to the customer orientation C, the stacked merchant screen906 a/customer screen 910 a are rendered by the tablet computer 100 suchthat they appear to move linearly in the direction D relative to thetablet computer display 104. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 10 gand 10 i, the merchant screen 906 a is at least partially obscured(e.g., greyed out in the illustrated embodiment) in response to changingthe orientation of the tablet computer enclosure/stand 200/rocker POStablet 600 from the merchant orientation A to the customer orientationC. For example, in the intermediate orientation B, the merchant screen906 a may be partially obscured or greyed out, while in the customerorientation C, the merchant screen 906 a may be completely obscured orgreyed out such that the customer may not see any information displayedon the merchant screen 906 a.

Similarly to the merchant orientation information discussed above, thecustomer orientation information associated with the customerorientation C in the database provides information on how a variety ofinformation should be displayed on the tablet computer display 104. Forexample, the customer orientation information may define which types ofinformation may be displayed, how that information may be displayed,which types of information are accessible. The customer orientationinformation is used in the systems and methods described herein toprovide customers with merchant product information in an easy tounderstand manner, and without the detail provided to the merchant usersor including information meant for viewing by merchant users but not bycustomers. As such, the customer orientation information may ensure thatmerchant product information retrieved by merchant users is displayed tocustomers in a manner that provides the customers with the ability toquickly and easily understand what they are purchasing and how tocomplete the purchase.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10 i, the customer screen 910 aincludes a total amount due 910 b, along with a tip section 910 c thatallows the customer user to select a predetermined tip amount or providea tip amount. In response to being provided the rocker POS tablet in thecustomer orientation C such that the customer screen 910 a is displayed,the customer may select a tip amount in the tip section 910 c such thata customer screen 910 d is displayed, as illustrated in FIGS. 10 j and10 k. The customer screen 910 d provides a signing section 910 e thatallows the customer to provide their signature to complete the cardpurchase of the products from the merchant.

Thus, systems and methods for providing merchant/customer paymentinteractions have been described that utilize a rocker POS tablet thatprovides merchant screens while in a merchant orientation to allow themerchant to retrieve, collect, and compile product information forproducts the customer would like to purchase, and then translates torelated, but different, customers screens when the rocker POS tablet isreoriented to a customer orientation in order to allow the customer topay for those products. This combination of reorientation hardware andsoftware provides for fluid and easy interactions between the merchantand the customer using the same tablet device, while ensuringinformation meant for the merchant is not displayed to the customer, bytransitioning between merchant screens and customer screens that displaysimilar information differently based on an orientation change andwithout the need to provide any other input to the rocker POS tablet. Inthe illustrated payment interaction example, the merchant user may scanor enter products, read credit card information, and retrieve customerinformation when the rocker POS tablet is in the merchant orientation,with all of that information displayed to the merchant user. Upontransition of the rocker POS tablet to the customer orientation, thatinformation is modified according to the customer orientationinformation such that only information meant for the customer isdisplayed (e.g., an amount due, an ability to provide a tip amount, andthe ability to provide a signature.)

Referring now to FIGS. 11 a-k, and with reference to FIGS. 10 a, 10 b,10 f, and 10 h, an embodiment of the method 900 begins at block 902where a rocker POS tablet is determined to be in a first orientation.FIGS. 11 a and 11 b illustrate the tablet computer enclosure/stand200/POS rocker tablet 300 in the merchant orientation A, alsoillustrated in FIG. 10 a. The determination that the rocker POS tablet600 is in the merchant orientation A may be performed substantially asdescribed above. The method 900 then proceeds to block 904 wheremerchant product information is retrieved. In an embodiment, while inthe merchant orientation A, the instructions may be received through themerchant home screen 904 a of the rocker POS tablet 600 while in themerchant orientation A, illustrated in FIG. 10 b.

Referring now to FIGS. 11 a and 11 b, the merchant user of the rockerPOS tablet 600 may have selected the view inventory button 904 c on themerchant home screen 904 a when the tablet computer enclosure/stand200/rocker POS tablet 600 was in the merchant orientation A. Inresponse, a complete merchant inventory screen 1100, illustrated in FIG.11 a, may be displayed that includes inventory data for the physicalmerchant location. For example, FIG. 11 a includes a screen shot of thedisplay of inventory data 1102 for suits, including rows of differentsuits with information in columns that includes identification numbers,suit color, suit style, number of suits in stock, and suit price. Atblock 904, the merchant user may provide instructions to the tabletcomputer 100 by selecting some of the rows that include suits ofinterest for a customer that that user is helping, by filtering theresults using a filtering term, and/or by performing a variety of otheractions known in the art. For example, a customer may ask the user for asuit for a specific occasion, and the user may then filter the inventorydata 1102, and/or select suits in that inventory data 1102 that areappropriate for that occasion.

The method 900 then proceeds to block 906 where merchant screen(s) aredisplayed. In an embodiment, the instruction(s) received at block 904may be used to retrieve merchant product information, customerinformation, and/or other information known in the art, and thatretrieved information may be provided on a merchant screen according tothe merchant orientation information. Referring now to FIG. 11 b, therocker POS tablet 600 is illustrated displaying a merchant screen 1104.The merchant screen 1104 is displaying merchant product information 1106that includes the suits that the merchant user selected for the customerat block 904. The product information 1106 in the illustrated embodimentincludes items numbers, colors, style indicators, inventor stocknumbers, and prices of each of the selected suits. However, in thisembodiment or other embodiments (e.g., with different products/servicesbeing sold by the merchant to the customer), other information intendedfor the merchant may be displayed on the merchant screen 1104 including,for example, margin numbers for each product, merchant incentives forselling particular products, and/or a variety of other merchant-intendedinformation known in the art.

The method 900 then proceeds to block 908 where a change in theorientation of the rocker POS tablet is detected. Referring to FIGS. 10f and 10 h, when the user has completed merchant operations with therocker POS tablet in the merchant orientation A (e.g., selecting suitsthat might be of interest to the customer, etc.), the user may reorientthe tablet computer enclosure/stand 200/rocker POS tablet 600 into acustomer orientation. FIG. 10 f illustrates an embodiment of the changein orientation of the tablet computer enclosure/stand 200/rocker POStablet 600 from the merchant orientation A to an intermediateorientation B by rotating the tablet computer enclosure/stand 200/rockerPOS tablet 600 about the engagement of the second edge 204 b/304 b andthe support surface 902 a. FIG. 10 h illustrates an embodiment of thechange in orientation of the tablet computer enclosure/stand 200/rockerPOS tablet 600 from the intermediate orientation B to a customerorientation C by continuing to rotate the tablet computerenclosure/stand 200/rocker POS tablet 600 about the engagement of thesecond edge 204 b/304 b and the support surface 902 a until the secondbase surface 206 engages the support surface 902 a.

The method 900 then proceeds to block 910 where the merchant screen istransitioned to a customer screen. In response to detecting the changein orientation of the tablet computer enclosure/stand 200/rocker POStablet 600 substantially as described above, the tablet computer 100 mayoperate to transition the merchant screen 1104 to a customer screen1108. FIG. 11 c illustrates the rocker POS tablet 600 in theintermediate orientation B and transitioning from the merchant screen1104 to the customer screen 1108. In the illustrated embodiment, themerchant screen 1104 and the customer screen 1108 are positioned in astacked orientation with (from the merchant user's point of view) thecustomer screen 1108 stacked, upside down, on top of the merchant screen1104, and during the transition of the tablet computer enclosure/stand200/rocker POS tablet 600 from the merchant orientation A to theintermediate orientation B, the stacked merchant screen 1104/customerscreen 1108 are rendered by the tablet computer 100 such that theyappear to move linearly in a direction E relative to the tablet computerdisplay 104.

FIG. 11 d illustrates the rocker POS tablet 600 in the customerorientation C and transitioned from the merchant screen 1104 to thecustomer screen 1108. In the illustrated embodiment, the rocker POStablet 600 is illustrated from the customer point of view, with themerchant screen 1104 and the customer screen 1108 positioned in astacked orientation with (from the customer user's point of view) themerchant screen 1104 stacked, upside down, on top of the customer screen1108, and during the transition of the tablet computer enclosure/stand200/rocker POS tablet 600 from the intermediate orientation B to thecustomer orientation C, the stacked merchant screen 1104/customer screen1108 are rendered by the tablet computer 100 such that they appear tomove linearly in the direction E relative to the tablet computer display104. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 11 d-h, the merchant screen906 a is at least partially obscured (e.g., greyed out in theillustrated embodiment) in response to changing the orientation of thetablet computer enclosure/stand 200/rocker POS tablet 600 from themerchant orientation A to the customer orientation C. For example, inthe intermediate orientation B, the merchant screen 1104 may bepartially obscured or greyed out, while in the customer orientation C,the merchant screen 1104 may be completely obscured or greyed out suchthat the customer may not see any information displayed on the merchantscreen 906 a.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 11 d, the customer screen 1108includes product images 1110 a, 1110 b, 1110 c, 1110 d, and 1110 e. Inan embodiment, each of the product images 1110 a-e may correspond to aproduct described in the rows of the merchant product information 1106on the merchant screen 1104. For example, the customer orientationinformation associated with the customer orientation C in the databasemay define that the suits selected by the merchant in the productinformation 1106 should be displayed to in the customer orientation C toa customer as product images associated with those suits in a database.Thus, the merchant user may manipulate the inventory data 1102 on themerchant screen 1100 such that the merchant screen 1104 is provided withthe merchant product information 1106, and then change the orientationof the rocker POS tablet 600 to cause the tablet computer 100 toretrieve and display the product images 1110 a-e for the productsassociated with the merchant product information 1106, while ensuringthat inventory data or other sensitive data is not displayed to thecustomer.

FIG. 11 e illustrates how the customer may interact with the customerscreen 1108 to select products. In the illustrated embodiment, thecustomer is selecting the product image 1110 a (e.g., but touching thetablet computer display where the product image 1110 a is beingdisplayed) and “swiping” the image downward to remove it from the listof products the customer is considering purchasing. FIG. 11 fillustrates the customer screen 1108 after the product images 1110 a and1110 d have been “swiped” away. As can be seen, as the product imagesare “swiped” away, the remaining product images for the products thatthe customer is interested in are enlarged. FIG. 11 g illustrates thecustomer screen 1108 displaying a particular product that the customeris interested in purchasing (e.g., in response to “swiping” away theother product images, in response to selecting the product image 1110 c,etc.). As can be seen, the product image 1110 c has been enlarged evenfurther, and product information 1112 has been provided on the customerscreen 1108 for review by the customer.

FIGS. 11 h and 11 j illustrate how the tablet computer enclosure/stand200/rocker POS tablet 600 may then be reoriented from the customerorientation C back to the merchant orientation A to provide the merchantscreen 1104 with merchant product information based on the actions takenby the customer on the customer screen 1108. FIG. 11 h illustrates therocker POS tablet 600 in the intermediate orientation B andtransitioning from the customer screen 1108 to the merchant screen 1104.In the illustrated embodiment, the merchant screen 1104 and the customerscreen 1108 are positioned in a stacked orientation with (from themerchant user's point of view) the customer screen 1108 stacked, upsidedown, on top of the merchant screen 1104, and during the transition ofthe tablet computer enclosure/stand 200/rocker POS tablet 600 from themerchant orientation A to the intermediate orientation B, the stackedmerchant screen 1104/customer screen 1108 are rendered by the tabletcomputer 100 such that they appear to move linearly in a direction Frelative to the tablet computer display 104.

FIG. 11 i illustrates the merchant screen 1104 with merchant productinformation 1114 for the product associated with the product image 1110c selected by the customer on the customer screen 1108. In response tothe actions by the customer selecting a particular product, the merchantscreen 1104 now displays a physical merchant location map 1116 thatprovides a layout of the physical merchant location along with anindicator 1118 of where within the physical merchant location theproduct that was selected by the customer is located. In an embodiment,each product in the merchant physical location may be associated withlocation data in the database, and upon detecting the change of therocker POS tablet 600 from the customer orientation C to the merchantorientation A, the tablet computer 100 may use the product identifierfor the product selected by the customer on the customer screen 1108 toretrieve the location data for that product to display the physicalmerchant location map 1116 and indicator 1118.

Thus, systems and methods for providing merchant/customer serviceinteractions have been described that utilize a rocker POS tablet thatprovides merchant screens while in a merchant orientation to allow themerchant to retrieve, collect, and compile product information forproducts the customer would like to purchase, and then translates torelated, but different, customers screens when the rocker POS tablet isreoriented to a customer orientation in order to allow the customer toview images of those products and select products to purchase or view.This combination of reorientation hardware and software provides forfluid and easy interactions between the merchant and the customer usingthe same tablet device, while ensuring information meant for themerchant is not displayed to the customer, by transitioning betweenmerchant screens and customer screens that display similar informationdifferently based on an orientation change and without the need toprovide any other input to the rocker POS tablet. In the illustratedservice interaction example, the merchant user may search throughproduct inventories, view product sale incentives or product margins,narrow the list of products to be displayed to the user based oninstructions from that user when the rocker POS tablet is in themerchant orientation, with all of that information displayed to themerchant user. Upon transition of the rocker POS tablet to the customerorientation, that information is modified according to the customerorientation information such that only information that would be ofinterest to the customer is displayed (e.g., the product images and/ordescriptions.)

Referring now to FIG. 12, an embodiment of a network-based system 1200for implementing one or more processes described herein is illustrated.As shown, network-based system 1200 may comprise or implement aplurality of servers and/or software components that operate to performvarious methodologies in accordance with the described embodiments.Exemplary servers may include, for example, stand-alone andenterprise-class servers operating a server OS such as a MICROSOFT® OS,a UNIX® OS, a LINUX® OS, or other suitable server-based OS. It can beappreciated that the servers illustrated in FIG. 12 may be deployed inother ways and that the operations performed and/or the servicesprovided by such servers may be combined or separated for a givenimplementation and may be performed by a greater number or fewer numberof servers. One or more servers may be operated and/or maintained by thesame or different entities.

The embodiment of the networked system 1200 illustrated in FIG. 12includes a plurality of customer devices 1202, a plurality of merchantdevices 1204, a payment service provider device 1206, and a plurality ofaccount holder devices 1208 in communication over a network 1210. Any ofthe customer devices 1202 may be the customer devices, discussed above.The merchant devices 1204 may be the merchant devices discussed aboveand may be operated by the merchant discussed above. The payment serviceprovider device 1206 may be the payment service provider devicesdiscussed above and may be operated by a payment service provider suchas, for example, PayPal Inc. of San Jose, Calif. The account providerdevices 1208 may be the account provider devices discussed above and maybe operated by the account providers discussed above such as, forexample, credit card account providers, bank account providers, savingsaccount providers, and a variety of other account providers known in theart.

The customer devices 1202, merchant devices 1204, payment serviceprovider device 1206, and account provider devices 1208 may each includeone or more processors, memories, and other appropriate components forexecuting instructions such as program code and/or data stored on one ormore computer readable mediums to implement the various applications,data, and steps described herein. For example, such instructions may bestored in one or more computer readable mediums such as memories or datastorage devices internal and/or external to various components of thesystem 1200, and/or accessible over the network 1210.

The network 1210 may be implemented as a single network or a combinationof multiple networks. For example, in various embodiments, the network1210 may include the Internet and/or one or more intranets, landlinenetworks, wireless networks, and/or other appropriate types of networks.

The customer devices 1202 may be implemented using any appropriatecombination of hardware and/or software configured for wired and/orwireless communication over network 1210. For example, in oneembodiment, the customer devices 1202 may be implemented as a personalcomputer of a user in communication with the Internet. In otherembodiments, the customer devices 1202 may be a smart phone, personaldigital assistant (PDA), laptop computer, and/or other types ofcomputing devices.

The customer devices 1202 may include one or more browser applicationswhich may be used, for example, to provide a convenient interface topermit the customer to browse information available over the network1210. For example, in one embodiment, the browser application may beimplemented as a web browser configured to view information availableover the Internet.

The customer devices 1202 may also include one or more toolbarapplications which may be used, for example, to provide user-sideprocessing for performing desired tasks in response to operationsselected by the customer. In one embodiment, the toolbar application maydisplay a user interface in connection with the browser application.

The customer devices 1202 may further include other applications as maybe desired in particular embodiments to provide desired features to thecustomer devices 1202. In particular, the other applications may includea payment application for payments assisted by a payment serviceprovider through the payment service provider device 1206. The otherapplications may also include security applications for implementinguser-side security features, programmatic user applications forinterfacing with appropriate application programming interfaces (APIs)over the network 1210, or other types of applications. Email and/or textapplications may also be included, which allow the customer to send andreceive emails and/or text messages through the network 1210. Thecustomer devices 1202 include one or more user and/or device identifierswhich may be implemented, for example, as operating system registryentries, cookies associated with the browser application, identifiersassociated with hardware of the customer devices 1202, or otherappropriate identifiers, such as a phone number. In one embodiment, theuser identifier may be used by the payment service provider device 1206and/or account provider devices 1208 to associate the user with aparticular account as further described herein.

The merchant devices 1204 may be maintained, for example, by aconventional or on-line merchant, conventional or digital goods seller,individual seller, and/or application developer offering variousproducts and/or services in exchange for payment to be receivedconventionally or over the network 12. In this regard, the merchantdevices 1204 may include a database identifying available productsand/or services (e.g., collectively referred to as items) which may bemade available for viewing and purchase by the customer.

The merchant devices 1204 also include a checkout application which maybe configured to facilitate the purchase by the payer of items. Thecheckout application may be configured to accept payment informationfrom the user through the customer devices 1202, the account providerthrough the account provider device 1208, and/or from the paymentservice provider through the payment service provider device 1206 overthe network 1210.

Referring now to FIG. 13, an embodiment of a computer system 1300suitable for implementing, for example, the customer devices 1202,merchant devices 1204, payment service provider device 1206, and accountprovider devices 1208, is illustrated. It should be appreciated thatother devices utilized by customers, merchants, payment serviceproviders, and account providers in the merchant/client interactionsystem discussed above may be implemented as the computer system 1300 ina manner as follows.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure,computer system 1300, such as a computer and/or a network server,includes a bus 1302 or other communication mechanism for communicatinginformation, which interconnects subsystems and components, such as aprocessing component 1304 (e.g., processor, micro-controller, digitalsignal processor (DSP), etc.), a system memory component 1306 (e.g.,RAM), a static storage component 1308 (e.g., ROM), a disk drivecomponent 1310 (e.g., magnetic or optical), a network interfacecomponent 1312 (e.g., modem or Ethernet card), a display component 1314(e.g., CRT or LCD), an input component 1318 (e.g., keyboard, keypad, orvirtual keyboard), a cursor control component 1320 (e.g., mouse,pointer, or trackball), a location determination component 822 (e.g., aGlobal Positioning System (GPS) device as illustrated, a cell towertriangulation device, and/or a variety of other location determinationdevices known in the art), a camera component 1323, and/or anorientation determination component 1324 (e.g., a gyroscope). In oneimplementation, the disk drive component 1310 may comprise a databasehaving one or more disk drive components.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the computersystem 1300 performs specific operations by the processor 1304 executingone or more sequences of instructions contained in the memory component1306, such as described herein with respect to the customer devices1202, merchant devices 1204, payment service provider device 1206, andaccount provider devices 1208. Such instructions may be read into thesystem memory component 1306 from another computer readable medium, suchas the static storage component 1308 or the disk drive component 1310.In other embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with software instructions to implement the presentdisclosure.

Logic may be encoded in a computer readable medium, which may refer toany medium that participates in providing instructions to the processor1304 for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but notlimited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.In one embodiment, the computer readable medium is non-transitory. Invarious implementations, non-volatile media includes optical or magneticdisks, such as the disk drive component 1310, volatile media includesdynamic memory, such as the system memory component 1306, andtransmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiberoptics, including wires that comprise the bus 1302. In one example,transmission media may take the form of acoustic or light waves, such asthose generated during radio wave and infrared data communications.

Some common forms of computer readable media includes, for example,floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magneticmedium, CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, anyother physical medium with patterns of holes, RAM, PROM, EPROM,FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, carrier wave, or anyother medium from which a computer is adapted to read. In oneembodiment, the computer readable media is non-transitory.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, execution ofinstruction sequences to practice the present disclosure may beperformed by the computer system 1300. In various other embodiments ofthe present disclosure, a plurality of the computer systems 1300 coupledby a communication link 1325 to the network 1210 (e.g., such as a LAN,WLAN, PTSN, and/or various other wired or wireless networks, includingtelecommunications, mobile, and cellular phone networks) may performinstruction sequences to practice the present disclosure in coordinationwith one another.

The computer system 1300 may transmit and receive messages, data,information and instructions, including one or more programs (i.e.,application code) through the communication link 1325 and the networkinterface component 1312. The network interface component 1312 mayinclude an antenna, either separate or integrated, to enabletransmission and reception via the communication link 1324. Receivedprogram code may be executed by processor 1304 as received and/or storedin disk drive component 1310 or some other non-volatile storagecomponent for execution.

Referring now to FIGS. 14, an embodiment of a merchant device 1400 isillustrated. In an embodiment, the device 1400 may be the tabletcomputers or rocker POS tablets discussed above. The device 1400includes a communication engine 1402 that is coupled to the network 1210and to a merchant/customer interaction engine 1404 that is coupled to aproduct database 1406 and an orientation database 1408. Thecommunication engine 1402 may be software or instructions stored on acomputer-readable medium that allows the device 1400 to send and receiveinformation over the network 1210. The merchant/customer interactionengine 1404 may be software or instructions stored on acomputer-readable medium that is operable to determine tablet computerorientations, retrieve merchant product information according to areceived instruction, display merchant screens, detect changes inorientation of the tablet computer, transition a merchant screen to acustomer screen, and provide any of the other functionality that isdiscussed above. While the databases 1406 and 1408 have been illustratedas separate and both located in the merchant device 1400, one of skillin the art will recognize that they may be combined and/or connected tothe merchant/customer interaction engine 1404 through the network 1210without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Referring now to FIGS. 15 a, 15 b, and 15 c, a schematic embodiment ofthe hardware/software interaction in a rocker POS tablet 1500 isillustrated. FIG. 15 a illustrates the rocker POS tablet 1500 in amerchant orientation such that a majority of the display device 1502(e.g., on a tablet computer) displays a merchant screen, while a topportion of the display device 1502 displays a portion of a customerscreen. FIG. 15 b illustrates the rocker POS tablet 1500 in a halfwayrotated orientation such that the display device 1502 (e.g., on a tabletcomputer) displays half of the merchant screen and half of the customerscreen. Finally, FIG. 15 c illustrates the rocker POS tablet 1500 in acustomer orientation such that the display device 1502 (e.g., on atablet computer) displays the customer screen, while a top portion ofthe display device 1502 displays a portion of the merchant screen

Where applicable, various embodiments provided by the present disclosuremay be implemented using hardware, software, or combinations of hardwareand software. Also, where applicable, the various hardware componentsand/or software components set forth herein may be combined intocomposite components comprising software, hardware, and/or both withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure. Where applicable,the various hardware components and/or software components set forthherein may be separated into sub-components comprising software,hardware, or both without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. In addition, where applicable, it is contemplated thatsoftware components may be implemented as hardware components andvice-versa.

Software, in accordance with the present disclosure, such as programcode and/or data, may be stored on one or more computer readablemediums. It is also contemplated that software identified herein may beimplemented using one or more general purpose or specific purposecomputers and/or computer systems, networked and/or otherwise. Whereapplicable, the ordering of various steps described herein may bechanged, combined into composite steps, and/or separated into sub-stepsto provide features described herein.

The foregoing disclosure is not intended to limit the present disclosureto the precise forms or particular fields of use disclosed. As such, itis contemplated that various alternate embodiments and/or modificationsto the present disclosure, whether explicitly described or impliedherein, are possible in light of the disclosure. For example, the aboveembodiments have focused on merchants and customers; however, a customeror consumer can pay, or otherwise interact with any type of recipient,including charities and individuals. The payment does not have toinvolve a purchase, but may be a loan, a charitable contribution, agift, etc. Thus, merchant as used herein can also include charities,individuals, and any other entity or person receiving a payment from acustomer. Having thus described embodiments of the present disclosure,persons of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that changes may bemade in form and detail without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is limited only by the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A merchant/customer interaction system,comprising: a tablet computer having a tablet computer display; a tabletcomputer orientation system that houses the tablet computer; anon-transitory memory included in the tablet computer and storingmerchant orientation information and customer orientation information;and one or more hardware processors included in the tablet computer,coupled to the memory, and configured to read instructions from thememory to perform the steps of: determining the tablet computerorientation system is in a first orientation defined by the merchantorientation information; retrieving merchant product informationaccording to a received instruction and the merchant orientationinformation; causing a merchant screen to be displayed on the tabletcomputer display, wherein the merchant screen includes the merchantproduct information according to the merchant orientation information;detecting a change in orientation of the tablet computer orientationsystem from the first orientation to a second orientation defined by thecustomer orientation information; and causing the merchant screen totransition on the tablet computer display to a customer screen as thetablet computer orientation system changes from the first orientation tothe second orientation by moving the merchant screen and the customerscreen linearly relative to the tablet computer display while in astacked orientation, wherein the customer screen includes the merchantproduct information displayed according to the customer orientationinformation such that the merchant product information is displayeddifferently on the customer screen relative to the merchant screen. 2.The system of claim 1, wherein merchant screen that includes themerchant product information displayed according to the merchantorientation information further includes an identification of a productand inventory data associated with the product.
 3. The system of claim2, wherein the customer screen that includes the merchant productinformation displayed according to the customer orientation informationfurther includes at least one image associated with the product, andwherein the inventory data associated with the product is not displayedon the customer screen.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the tabletcomputer orientation system includes: a base having a triangular crosssection; a first base surface on the base comprising a first edge and asecond edge located opposite the first base surface from the first edge;a second base surface on the base comprising the second edge and a thirdedge located opposite the second base surface from the second edge; anda tablet computer housing extending between the first edge and the thirdedge.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the tablet computer orientationsystem is in the first orientation when the first base surface engages asupport surface and in the second orientation when the second basesurface engages the support surface, and wherein the tablet computerorientation system changes between the first orientation and the secondorientation by rotating about the second edge when the second edge is incontact with the support surface.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein theone or more hardware processors are configured to read instructions fromthe memory to perform the steps of: obscuring the merchant screen duringthe transitioning of the merchant screen to the customer screen as thetablet computer orientation system changes from the first orientation tothe second orientation.
 7. A method for providing merchant/customerinteraction, comprising: determining a tablet computer orientationsystem is in a first orientation defined by merchant orientationinformation stored in a database; retrieving merchant productinformation according to a received instruction and the merchantorientation information; causing a merchant screen to be displayed on atablet computer display, wherein the merchant screen includes themerchant product information according to the merchant orientationinformation; detecting a change in orientation of the tablet computerorientation system from the first orientation to a second orientationthat is defined by customer orientation information stored in thedatabase; causing the merchant screen on the tablet computer display totransition to a customer screen as the tablet computer orientationsystem changes from the first orientation to the second orientation bymoving the merchant screen and the customer screen linearly relative tothe tablet computer display while in a stacked orientation, wherein thecustomer screen includes the merchant product information displayedaccording to the customer orientation information such that the merchantproduct information is displayed differently on the customer screenrelative to the merchant screen.
 8. The method of claim 7, whereinmerchant screen that includes the merchant product information displayedaccording to the merchant orientation information further includes anidentification of a product and inventory data associated with theproduct.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the customer screen thatincludes the merchant product information displayed according to thecustomer orientation information further includes at least one imageassociated with the product, and wherein the inventory data associatedwith the product is not displayed on the customer screen.
 10. The methodof claim 7, wherein the tablet computer orientation system includes: abase having a triangular cross section; a first base surface on the basecomprising a first edge and a second edge located opposite the firstbase surface from the first edge; a second base surface on the basecomprising the second edge and a third edge located opposite the secondbase surface from the second edge; and a tablet computer housingextending between the first edge and the third edge.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the tablet computer orientation system is in the firstorientation when the first base surface engages a support surface and inthe second orientation when the second base surface engages the supportsurface, and wherein the tablet computer orientation system changesbetween the first orientation and the second orientation by rotatingabout the second edge when the second edge is in contact with thesupport surface.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the tablet computerorientation system includes a card reading device and the method furthercomprises: receiving card information from the card reading device. 13.The method of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises: obscuringthe merchant screen during the transitioning of the merchant screen tothe customer screen as the tablet computer orientation system changesfrom the first orientation to the second orientation.
 14. Anon-transitory machine-readable medium comprising a plurality ofmachine-readable instructions which, when executed by one or moreprocessors, are adapted to cause the one or more processors to perform amethod comprising: determining a tablet computer orientation system isin a first orientation defined by merchant orientation informationstored in a database; retrieving merchant product information accordingto a received instruction and the merchant orientation information;causing a merchant screen to be displayed on a tablet computer display,wherein the merchant screen includes the merchant product informationaccording to the merchant orientation information; detecting a change inorientation of the tablet computer orientation system from the firstorientation to a second orientation that is defined by customerorientation information stored in the database; causing the merchantscreen to transition on the tablet computer display to a customer screenas the tablet computer orientation system changes from the firstorientation to the second orientation by moving the merchant screen andthe customer screen linearly relative to the tablet computer displaywhile in a stacked orientation, wherein the customer screen includes themerchant product information displayed according to the customerorientation information such that the merchant product information isdisplayed differently on the customer screen relative to the merchantscreen.
 15. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 14,wherein merchant screen that includes the merchant product informationdisplayed according to the merchant orientation information furtherincludes an identification of a product and inventory data associatedwith the product.
 16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium ofclaim 15, wherein the customer screen that includes the merchant productinformation displayed according to the customer orientation informationfurther includes at least one image associated with the product, andwherein the inventory data associated with the product is not displayedon the customer screen.
 17. The non-transitory machine-readable mediumof claim 14, wherein the tablet computer orientation system includes: abase having a triangular cross section; a first base surface on the basecomprising a first edge and a second edge located opposite the firstbase surface from the first edge; a second base surface on the basecomprising the second edge and a third edge located opposite the secondbase surface from the second edge; and a tablet computer housingextending between the first edge and the third edge.
 18. Thenon-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the tabletcomputer orientation system is in the first orientation when the firstbase surface engages a support surface and in the second orientationwhen the second base surface engages the support surface, and whereinthe tablet computer orientation system changes between the firstorientation and the second orientation by rotating about the second edgewhen the second edge is in contact with the support surface.
 19. Thenon-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the tabletcomputer orientation system includes a card reading device and themethod further comprises: receiving card information from the cardreading device.
 20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim14, wherein the method further comprises: obscuring the merchant screenduring the transitioning of the merchant screen to the customer screenas the tablet computer orientation system changes from the firstorientation to the second orientation.